Some people will argue that public graffiti straddles the line between art and vandalism, but I’m more of the “vandalism” opinion than anything else. I can appreciate good graffiti when I see it, and some of the social statement pieces are absolutely fantastic (here’s looking at you, Banksy.)
But I also think that some graffiti is simply pointless and only damages the property it’s sprayed onto, like when someone tags their name or a phrase onto the side of a building. That to me is just entirely without merit.
One of the biggest problems with graffiti is the cost of removal.
We can talk about the ways in which cities argue graffiti devalues areas and turns them into seemingly crime-ridden neighborhoods. But there’s also a lot to be said about what it costs to remove graffiti once it’s been sprayed onto a wall.
Cities and county agencies spend millions to rid public property of its spray painted art. In 2010, Seattle alone spent $1 million on graffiti removal, as well as graffiti enforcement, education, and outreach to prevent more vandalism.
One graffiti artist appears to have recognized the burden public art places on cities.
So, rather than tag the side of a building, a bus, a bridge, or any other form of public property, this artist opted instead to express themselves on a large stretch of plastic wrap which can be easily disposed of without any additional cost or laborious burden on the part of the city.
A photo of their respectful artwork was posted to Reddit in the r/mildlyinteresting subreddit.
The plastic can be seen wrapped taut around two cement pillars with the word “seek” tagged on it.
It’s unclear where the photo was taken, but some users have remarked they’ve seen a similar tag in different cities in Australia, Germany, and America.
While some have approved of the artist’s decision, others have pointed out one small issue with this picture.
“One of my friends is a graffiti artist and this is a common thing for them to do so they can practice,” a user pointed out.
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Another echoed this and said, “Guarantee he’s planning on tagging an actual wall soon.”
So there’s definitely a chance that this isn’t necessarily meant to save walls from graffiti so much as it is to make sure the artist’s tag is as perfect as possible before actually vandalizing something.
But until we know for sure, let’s just pretend that this person is actually socially conscious is is attempting to start a movement to encourage other artists to be socially conscious too.
